Title 84 — Title 84 PROPERTY TAXES

All property now existing, or that is hereafter created or brought into this state, shall be subject to assessment and taxation for state, county, and other taxing district purposes, upon equalized valuations thereof, fixed with reference thereto on the first day of January at tw…

(1) All property belonging exclusively to the United States, the state, or any county or municipal corporation; all property belonging exclusively to any federally recognized Indian tribe, if (a) the tribe is located in the state, and (b) the property is used exclusively for esse…

(1) To qualify in any year for exempt status for real or personal property used exclusively for essential government services under RCW 84.36.010, a federally recognized Indian tribe must file an initial application with the department of revenue on or before October 1st of the p…

(1) Each parcel of real property, and each personal property account, that has an assessed value of less than five hundred dollars is exempt from taxation.(2) This section does not apply to personal property to which the exemption from taxation under RCW 84.36.110(2) may be appli…

*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2239-S.SL) ***The following real and personal property shall be exempt from taxation:(1) All lands, buildings, and personal property required for necessary administration and maintenance, used, or to the extent used, exclusively for public burying grou…

The following real and personal property is exempt from taxation:(1)(a) Property owned by nonprofit organizations or associations, organized and conducted for nonsectarian purposes, which shall be used for character-building, benevolent, protective[,] or rehabilitative social ser…

(1) Except as provided otherwise in subsection (2) of this section, property leased, loaned, sold with the option to repurchase, or otherwise made available to organizations described in RCW 84.36.030 is not exempt from taxation.(2) Property remains eligible for the exemption und…

The real and personal property of the administrative offices of nonprofit recognized religious organizations shall be exempt to the extent that the property is used for the administration of the religious programs of the organization and such other programs as would be exempt und…

(1) The following property is exempt from taxation: All property, whether real or personal, belonging to or leased by any nonprofit corporation or association and used exclusively in the business of a qualifying blood bank, a qualifying tissue bank, or a qualifying blood and tiss…

*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 5252-S.SL) ***(1) Real or personal property owned by a nonprofit organization, association, or corporation in connection with the operation of a public assembly hall or meeting place is exempt from taxation. The area exempt under this section includes …

(1) The real and personal property used by, and for the purposes of, the following nonprofit organizations is exempt from property taxation:(a) Child day care centers as defined in subsection (4) of this section;(b) Free public libraries;(c) Orphanages and orphan asylums;(d) Home…

(1) All real and personal property used by a nonprofit home for the aging that is reasonably necessary for the purposes of the home is exempt from taxation if the benefit of the exemption inures to the home and:(a) At least fifty percent of the occupied dwelling units in the home…

(1) All real and personal property owned or leased by a nonprofit organization, corporation, or association to provide housing for eligible persons with developmental disabilities is exempt from property taxation, whether such housing is provided directly by the nonprofit organiz…

*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 6027-S2.SL) ***(1) The real and personal property used by a nonprofit organization in providing emergency or transitional housing for low-income homeless persons as defined in RCW 35.21.685 or 36.32.415 or victims of domestic violence who are homeless …

All real and personal property owned or used by any nonprofit corporation or association which is available without charge for research by, or for the training of, doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians, hospital administrators and staff or other hospital personnel, and which ot…

(1) All real or personal property owned or used by a nonprofit organization, corporation, or association in connection with a nonprofit cancer clinic or center shall be exempt from taxation if all of the following conditions are met:(a) The nonprofit cancer clinic or center must …

The following property shall be exempt from taxation:Real and personal property owned by or leased to any nonprofit corporation or association and, except as provided in RCW 84.36.805, used exclusively to rebroadcast, amplify, or otherwise facilitate the transmission and/or recep…

*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2610.SL) ***(1) All real property is exempt from state and local property taxes if owned by:(a) A nonprofit entity, or a qualified cooperative association, for the purpose of developing or redeveloping on the real property one or more residences to be …

The following property is exempt from taxation:(1) Property owned or used by or for any nonprofit school or college in this state for educational purposes or cultural or art educational programs as defined in RCW 82.04.4328. Real property so exempt may not exceed four hundred acr…

(1) The following property is exempt from taxation:(a) All art, scientific, or historical collections of associations maintaining and exhibiting such collections for the benefit of the general public and not for profit, together with all real and personal property of such associa…

(1) Intangible personal property is exempt from ad valorem taxation.(2) "Intangible personal property" means:(a) All moneys and credits including mortgages, notes, accounts, certificates of deposit, tax certificates, judgments, state, county and municipal bonds and warrants and b…

All rights, title or interest in or to any vessel of more than one thousand ton burden, and the materials and parts held by the builder of the vessel at the site of construction for the specific purpose of incorporation therein, shall be exempt from taxation while the vessel is u…

(1) All ships and vessels which are exempt from excise tax under RCW 82.49.020(2) and excepted from the registration requirements of RCW 88.02.570(10) shall be and are hereby made exempt from all ad valorem taxes, except taxes levied for any state purpose.(2) All ships and vessel…

All ships and vessels, other than those partially exempt under RCW 84.36.080 and those described in RCW 84.36.079, are exempt from all ad valorem taxes.[ 1983 c 7 s 24; 1961 c 15 s 84.36.090. Prior: 1959 c 295 s 2; 1945 c 82 s 2; 1931 c 81 s 2; Rem. Supp. 1945 s 11111-3.]Notes:Co…

RCW 84.36.080 and 84.36.090 shall apply to all ships, vessels and boats, irrespective of size, and to the taxes thereon becoming due and payable.[ 1961 c 15 s 84.36.100. Prior: 1945 c 82 s 3; 1931 c 81 s 3; Rem. Supp. 1945 s 11111-4.]

All cargo containers principally used for the transportation of cargo by vessels in ocean commerce shall be exempt from taxation. The term "cargo container" means a receptacle:(1) Of a permanent character and accordingly strong enough to be suitable for repeated use;(2) Specially…

The following property shall be exempt from taxation:(1) All household goods and furnishings in actual use by the owner thereof in equipping and outfitting his or her residence or place of abode and not for sale or commercial use, and all personal effects held by any person for h…

For the purposes of RCW 84.36.110 "head of a family" shall be construed to include a surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner who has neither remarried nor entered into a subsequent domestic partnership, any person receiving an old age pension under the laws of this state a…

All property, whether real or personal, belonging exclusively to any municipal corporation in an adjoining state legally empowered by the laws of such adjoining state to acquire and hold property within this state, and which property is used primarily for airport purposes and oth…

(1) An aircraft owned and operated by a commuter air carrier in respect to which the tax imposed under RCW 82.48.030 has been paid for a calendar year is exempt from property taxation for that calendar year.(2) For the purposes of this section, "aircraft" and "commuter air carrie…

The real and personal property of the state housing finance commission established by chapter 43.180 RCW are exempt from taxation.[ 1983 c 161 s 26.]Notes:Effective dates—1983 c 161: See RCW 43.180.904.

Whenever the state, or any city, town, county or other municipal corporation has obtained a written easement for a right-of-way over and across any private property and the written instrument has been placed of record in the county auditor's office of the county in which the prop…

Any bridge, including its approaches, over rivers or bodies of water forming interstate boundaries, which bridge has been constructed or acquired and is being operated by any foreign state bordering upon such common interstate boundary, or which has been constructed or acquired a…

All personal property belonging solely to soil and water conservation districts shall be exempt from taxation: PROVIDED, That the exemption contained herein shall not apply to property of any such district which engages in contract work for persons or firms not landowners or coop…

The following property shall be exempt from taxation:All property, whether real or personal belonging to any nonprofit corporation or cooperative association and used exclusively for the distribution of water to its shareholders or members.[ 1965 ex.s. c 173 s 31.]Notes:Effective…

(1) All improvements to real and personal property that benefit fish and wildlife habitat, water quality, or water quantity are exempt from taxation if the improvements are included under a written conservation plan approved by a conservation district. The conservation districts …

(1) All real property interests, including fee simple or any lesser interest, development rights, easements, covenants and conservation futures, as that latter term is defined in RCW 84.34.220 as now or hereafter amended, used exclusively for the conservation of ecological system…

Upon cessation of the use which has given rise to an exemption hereunder, the county treasurer shall collect all taxes which would have been paid had the property not been exempt during the ten years preceding, or the life of such exemption if such be less, together with interest…

Owners of property desiring tax exempt status pursuant to the provisions of RCW 84.36.260 must make an application for the exemption with the department. If such property qualifies pursuant to RCW 84.36.260(1)(b), a copy of the option must also be submitted to the department. Suc…

There shall be exempt from taxation a portion of each separately assessed stock of merchandise, as that word is defined in this section, owned or held by any taxpayer on the first day of January of any year computed by first multiplying the total amount of that stock of such merc…

The legislature hereby finds and declares that to promote the policy of a free and uninhibited flow of commerce as established by federal constitutional and legislative dictate, it is desirable to exempt from property taxation, according to the provisions of RCW 84.36.300, certai…

Any person claiming the exemption provided for in RCW 84.36.300 shall file such claim with his or her listing of personal property as provided by RCW 84.40.040. The claim shall be in the form prescribed by the department of revenue, and shall require such information as the depar…

An owner or agent filing a claim under RCW 84.36.310 shall consent to the inspection of the books and records upon which the claim has been based, such inspection to be similar in manner to that provided by RCW 84.40.340, or if the owner or agent does not maintain records within …

(1) The following property shall be exempt from taxation:(a) Real or personal property owned and used by a nonprofit corporation in connection with the operation of a sheltered workshop for persons with disabilities, and used primarily in connection with the manufacturing and the…

The legislature finds that the property tax exemption authorized by Article VII, section 10 of the state Constitution should be made available on the basis of a retired person's ability to pay property taxes and that the best measure of a retired person's ability to pay taxes is …

*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 6162-S.SL) ***A person is exempt from any legal obligation to pay all or a portion of the amount of excess and regular real property taxes due and payable in the year following the year in which a claim is filed, and thereafter, in accordance with the …

*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 6162-S.SL) ***As used in RCW 84.36.381 through 84.36.389, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:(1) "Accessory dwelling unit" means a separate, autonomous residential dwelling unit that provides complete independent living facilities for one or…

(1) A claim for exemption under RCW 84.36.381 as now or hereafter amended, may be made and filed at any time during the year for exemption from taxes payable the following year and thereafter and solely upon forms as prescribed and furnished by the department of revenue. However,…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, all claims for exemption shall be made and signed under oath by the person entitled to the exemption, by his or her attorney-in-fact or in the event the residence of such person is under mortgage or purchase contract requi…

(1) The director of the department of revenue shall adopt such rules and regulations and prescribe such forms as may be necessary and appropriate for implementation and administration of this chapter subject to chapter 34.05 RCW, the administrative procedure act.(2) The departmen…